A conveyor and method for moving articles employs a multi-directional roller assembly including an orienting component for orienting a roller and an actuating component for actuating the roller.
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1. A housing for a roller in a conveyor, comprising:
a first ring-shaped component for mounting a roller; and
a second ring-shaped component that forms a cap for the first ring-shaped component to sandwich the roller between the first ring-shaped component and the second ring-shaped component, the second ring-shaped component having a central opening, wherein the second ring-shaped component is rotatable about the first ring-shaped component to induce rotation of the roller about a central axis.
11. A housing for a roller in a conveyor, comprising:
a first component for mounting a roller; and
a second component comprising a central ring with peripheral teeth and an inner ring of teeth distributed about an inner rim of the central ring, the inner ring of teeth facing downwards towards the first component, the second component sandwiching the roller between the first component and the second component, wherein the second component is rotatable about the first component to induce rotation of the roller about a central axis.
15. A housing for a roller in a conveyor, comprising:
a first component for mounting a roller, wherein the first component includes a central ring having opposing slots for receiving axles of the roller in an upper portion and peripheral teeth distributed about a lower portion, wherein the lower portion has a smaller central opening than the upper portion to create an inner shelf in the central ring; and
a second component that forms a cap for the first component to sandwich the roller between the first component and the second component, wherein the second component is rotatable about the first component to induce rotation of the roller about a central axis.
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The present application claims priority to US Provisional Patent Application No. 62/016,732 entitled “Multi-Directional Roller Assembly for a Conveyor” filed Jun. 25 2014, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.
The invention relates generally to power-driven conveyors and more particularly to conveyors having rollers for manipulating the trajectory of articles through a conveyor system.
Many package- and material-handling applications require that conveyed articles be diverted to a side of a conveyor. Two examples are sorting articles off the side of a belt and registering articles against the side of the belt. U.S. Pat. No. 6,494,312, “Modular Roller-Top Conveyor Belt with Obliquely-Arranged Rollers,” Dec. 17, 2002, to Costanzo discloses a conveyor system in which cylindrical rollers mounted in a conveyor belt on axles oblique to the direction of belt travel are actuated by underlying bearing surfaces on which the oblique rollers ride as the belt advances in the direction of belt travel. The contact between the rollers and the bearing surfaces causes the rollers to rotate as the belt advances. The rotation of the oblique rollers pushes articles atop the rollers across the conveyor belt toward a side of the conveyor. These oblique-roller belts work extremely well on planar bearing surfaces as long as the rollers are arranged to rotate at an angle between the direction of belt travel (defined as a roller angle of 0°) and about 30° or so from the direction of belt travel. For roller angles greater than 30°, the rollers slip too much on the planar bearing surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,968,941, “Apparatus and Methods for Conveying Objects,” Nov. 29, 2005, to Fourney describes an improved bearing surface that accommodates a much greater range of roller angles. Instead of using a planar bearing surface, Fourney uses the outer peripheries of actuating rollers arranged to rotate on axes in the direction of belt travel. As the conveyor belt advances, the oblique belt rollers roll on the underlying actuating rollers, which are also caused to roll on their axes. Because the bearing surface on the periphery is rolling, slip is reduced and greater roller angles can be accommodated. The greater roller angles permit much sharper article-diversion trajectories than are possible with a planar bearing surface. But actuating rollers are more expensive and slightly more complicated than simple planar bearing surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,588,137, “Conveyor Belt Having Rollers that Displace Objects,” Sep. 15, 2009, to Fourney describes a conveyor belt that includes multiple roller sets used to divert objects from the conveyor belt. The angles along which articles can be diverted from the conveyor are limited.
A roller assembly for directing a product along a selected trajectory includes a roller, a roller orienter and a roller activator. The roller activator may rotate about the roller orienter to induce rotation of the roller in a selected direction. A roller plate houses an array of roller assemblies, at least some of which are linked through intermeshed teeth.
According to one aspect of the invention, a roller assembly comprises a first gear for mounting and orienting a roller, a roller mounted to the first gear and a second gear coupled to the first gear for activating the roller.
According to another embodiment, a device for activating a roller in a conveyor system comprises a ring with an inner shelf and a central opening, a plurality of peripheral teeth distributed about a peripheral surface of the ring and a plurality of downward facing inner teeth distributed about an inner surface along the central opening of the ring for engaging a gear connected to the roller.
According to another embodiment, a housing for a roller in a conveyor comprises a first component for mounting a roller and a second component for sandwiching the roller between the first component and the second component. The second component is rotatable about the first component to induce rotation of the roller about a central axis.
According to another aspect, a roller plate comprises a first plate having a plurality of openings, a second plate and an array of roller assemblies between the first and second plate. Each roller assembly has a roller protruding through the opening and peripheral teeth that mesh with peripheral teeth on an adjacent roller assembly to induce rotation of the rollers.
These aspects and features of the invention are described in more detail in the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings, in which:
A conveyor system includes an array of multi-directional roller assemblies. Each multi-directional roller assembly includes a bottom gear for orienting and mounting a roller and a top gear for activating a roller. The invention will be described below relative to certain illustrative embodiments, though the invention is not limited to those illustrative embodiments.
The upper plate 12 includes a plurality of openings 16 for allowing at least a portion of a multi-directional roller assembly 20 to protrude through and above the top surface of the plate 12 to allow contact with articles of conveyance.
For example, as shown in
In the embodiment of
The resulting conveying direction of a conveyed product is based on the orientation of the rollers as well as the direction of rotation of the rollers when activated. The resulting product trajectory will be 90° plus or minus the orientation angle of the rollers 22 relative to the standard conveying direction 30. When rollers axes are perpendicular to the standard conveying direction, resulting product trajectory will be along the standard conveying direction 30, or opposite the standard conveying direction, depending on the direction of rotation of the rollers. The rollers 22 may be oriented at any suitable angle to achieve a desired output trajectory.
As shown in
Other means for mounting the roller 22 to the lower gear 60 may be used. For example, the axle ends 23 may be inserted into openings in the side wall of the central ring 62 to rotatably mount the roller to the lower gear 60. In the illustrative embodiment, the roller 22 rotates freely about its longitudinal axis 24 when mounted to the lower gear, though the invention is not so limited.
The roller 22 may or may not protrude through the bottom opening 67.
Referring back to
The roller 22 is actuated by rotating the upper gear 70 about the lower gear 60 in a selected direction. As the gear 70 rotates, the teeth 76 rotate the gear 28, spinning the roller 22. The roller spinning direction may be reversed by rotating the gear 70 in an opposite direction.
The upper surface 78 of the central ring is stepped up from the upper surface 72a of the teeth 72. Thus, when the roller plate 10 is assembled, the upper surfaces 78 of the central rings are coplanar with or extend above the upper plate 12, while the gear teeth 72 are below the upper plate 12, as shown in
The assemblies 20 are spaced such that one or more or all of the roller assembly upper teeth 72 are intermeshed. Therefore, rotation of one roller assembly ring 71 will cause rotation of a connected ring, actuating multiple rollers.
While the upper gear 70 actuates a roller, the lower gear 60 orients the roller 22 at a select angle relative to a default direction. The lower gear 60 is connected to an orienter, such as a rack gear, which engages the teeth 66 of a roller assembly 20 to orient the roller assembly. The roller plate 10 may also include pinion gears between lower gears 60 to simultaneously orient multiple assemblies.
While the illustrative embodiment shows the actuating mechanism as a cap for the orienting mechanism, the invention is not so limited. For example, alternatively, the orienting mechanism for a roller may be a cap for the actuating mechanism. In addition, various other alternatives are envisioned, and the invention is not limited to the illustrative embodiments described above.
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